The women’s soccer team took a trip to Maryland to play the Washington Adventist University Shocks and came back with their first win of the season. Sophomore Tia Horew’s two goals helped complete the Pioneers’ comeback, establishing a 3-1 win.

The first half was highly contested for the two teams until Shocks forward Ariella Amaguana scored in the 45th minute.

For junior Bailey Boyd, Point Park had issues with the details of their game, something head coach Bethanie Moreschi had mentioned was an issue in previous games.

“In the first half we struggled a lot to do the little things well and effectively, and I think that really played into us mentally, resulting in us not capitalizing in the final third as well as leading to us giving up that lone goal at the end of the half,” Boyd said.

Going into halftime, the Pioneers were in need of a different approach when they went back onto the pitch. Moreschi’s message was clear: take action and dictate the pace.

“I think at halftime we were able to realize that we weren’t playing to our potential,” Moreschi said. “We made a few changes due to the field being very small. We also talked about urgency to score and the effort that we felt our team was lacking. We had many opportunities in the first half but didn’t make anything out of them. I think the second half we had a new mindset and played our game. We really controlled the speed of play and finally started making our opportunities in front of the goal count.”

Almost 20 minutes into the second half, senior captain Chloe Bowser took a corner kick allowing sophomore Britney Adrian to tie the game with her first goal of the season. According to Bowser, Adrian’s goal was what the Pioneers needed.

“After they scored the goal at the end of the first half we definitely got a little discouraged but knew the game was still winnable, going back into the second half we started to play better and the goal proved it, we wanted to keep going,” Bowser said.

Four minutes later, Boyd and Horew connected for the latter’s first of two goals, giving the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. The momentum had swayed in Point Park’s favor and, according to Boyd, things would be different from their last game, where the team had lost a two-goal lead.

“After that goal we were able to stay in a more offensive mindset considering we were down a goal going into the second half,” Boyd said. “It was able to kind of fuel us to keep going. Where as in the last game I feel we got complacent with the lead and got too focused on keeping them from scoring when we should have been looking to score again and remain on the attack.”

Horew was able to bury her second of the game with under three minutes remaining to give her team the assurance they needed.

With the scoreboard showing 3-1 in favor of the away team with no time remaining on the clock, the Pioneers had found themselves in the win column for the first time this season.

The win was the first under Moreschi for the Pioneers. For the coach, finally leaving a stadium with a victory was the best thing for her and the team.

“Definitely a long time coming, but worth it,” Moreschi said. “We are planning to just keep going up from here and continue to show progress weekly. There’s nothing better than winning, we have had a taste of it and I’m sure we all want more.”

The Pioneers return to action at Highmark Stadium against Shawnee State University on Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. At the time of publication, Point Park can move up to No. 7 in the River States Conference (RSC) standings with a win against Shawnee State.